Karoke Night And Kaylee
by aerialla1
Summary: Kaylee goes to a future Caritas for advice.


Disclaimer All characters from Buffy,Angel,Firefly is the property of Mutant Enemy and Fox, No infringements are intended and no property is gained from this material. It is for entertainment purposes only and under no affiliation with the above companies.

_Story takes place the night before Firefly's "The Message". For all purposes they were on the space station for a day before the episode takes place._

**Karaoke Night and Kaylee**

Kaylee opened the door to the bar her fingers shaking with nerves. If anyone else of the crew knew she was here then they would tease her mercilessly until probably the next century. But she had to find out if Simon really was the one. The ad on the cortex had listed two addresses for the person she was to meet, one here at the Space Bazaar and another on Ariel. The ad stated the place was called Caritas, whatever that meant and to come have fun singing karaoke, whatever that was, and forcibly stipulated no weaponry.

Forcing her resolve she opened the door and was assuaged with light and sound. Everything spoke Earth That Was. Many things she had only heard about or seen on the cortex in pictures. Kaylee couldn't even begin to comprehend the amount of credits it had taken to get a place to look like this.

It was on further inspection that she noticed them, creatures really, in all manners of form. It looked like a Halloween party, only none of the costumes looked very nice. They were in fact kind of scary and if she was not mistaken one or two looked like Reavers.

Moving through the various bodies she tried desperately not to stare, knowing that she stuck out like a sore thumb. At the bar she took a vacant seat and ordered a drink trying to keep her eyes down and to herself. More than one part of her was screaming to run, yet her heart kept her firmly in her seat.

She had to take her chance now, there was no telling when they would be dirt side again let alone on the space station near St. Albans. This was it and there was no turning back now no matter how scared she was or how scary the people around her were.

It took two drinks before Keely felt confident enough to look closely around the place and its patrons. Unlike most of the bars she had been to with the crew of Serenity everyone here was calm no one was acting hostile or starting fights and no one person or being had hit on her yet. That alone was enough to make her loosen up a little and relax.

Toward the front of her at the back of the bar was a stage where a man with green skin, red horns and eyes was singing. He was dressed in the brightest mix match of colors that Keely had ever witnessed on a person all at the same time. She found herself tapping her foot to the music and really starting to enjoy herself. Soon she was clapping and shouting like everyone else in the place. The man did one more song before handing off the microphone and began making the rounds through the bar. Before long he was at the bar and right next to Kaylee.

This was it, her chance. "Excuse me, are you The Host?" Kaylee hoped her voice came out normal although in her ears it sounded like a squeak.

"That I am sweet cheeks." Lorne turned to look at the girl who looked nothing like his usual clientele. A human for one thing, and a young one at that. "What's a girl like you doing in a place like this, not that my place isn't all types of shiny?"

"I saw your ad, that you do readings. There is something that I'd really like to know." Kaylee clutched the glass so hard in her hand that for a brief second she thought that it would break. Her heart was pounding in her chest she was sure that everyone in the place heard it too. It was almost her undoing when she saw a couple creatures out of the corner of her eye turn and stare at her, they looked like they were almost salivating.

"Well honey that I can do, but you have to do a little something for me." Lorne took a long drink of his Sea Breeze and motioned for the bartender to bring Kaylee another, figuring that this little girl was going to need it, especially after he saw the look of fright in her eyes.

"What would I have to do?" Kaylee could barely get the words past her throat and when the bartender put another drink in front of her she gulped it down like she was dying of thirst.

"Well, Manny, up by the stage has a book, pick a song and sing for us, then I can tell you all that you want to know." Lorne had a feeling that this little bit of a thing was going to be a hit on the stage. They didn't get but one or two humans in to sing a year and usually not women, so tonight was going to be a special treat for everyone, himself included. He swore every night that if he heard one more botched rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" he was going to burst his own eardrums.

"You mean sing?" Kaylee's eyes were as round as saucer's. No one ever wanted her to sing, even her Pa said she could scare the spots off a dog with her voice. She was better left with engines and mechanics than setting foot on a stage.

"I sure do darlin', it's not hard and no one here is going to judge you. Just get on up there and pick a song, or sing a lullaby, anything to get those sweet vocal chords a hummin. You can even close your eyes if you want to." Lorne really felt for the kid and hoped that Randall the bartender had slipped enough alcohol in the drink to give her some courage.

The alcohol by now was hitting Kaylee and for a moment she felt she could do this. She'd do anything to find out if Simon loved her like she loved him, and if that meant getting up on stage and making a pee goo out of herself then she was going to do it.

"Alrighty then." She swayed a little as she hopped off the barstool and made her way to the stage. It was now or never. Taking a quick look through Manny's book she saw nothing that appealed to her but grabbed a hold of the microphone and sung the only song that was in her head.

He robbed from the rich  
And he gave to the poor  
Stood up to the man  
And he gave him what for  
Our love for him now  
Ain't hard to explain  
The Hero of Canton  
The man they call Jayne...

Kaylee finished the song in a fit of giggles remembering the delight on Jayne's face when he had heard the song and the shock on the rest of the crews. She had fallen asleep next to Simon that night and had woke up head over heels in love.

The crowd was hooping and hollerin' at her and requesting another song but she was laughing too much and swaying more than a little. Luckily Lorne grabbed her before she was able to walk off the stage and flat onto her face.

"What's your name sweet cakes?" Lorne held onto her for a minute not letting go for fear she'd fall.

"Kaylee, my name is Kaylee." The words came out between giggles and more than one hiccup. Whatever the bartender had put in those drinks was going to still be with her in the morning.

"Let's give it up one more time to our shining jewel of the night, Kaylee. Right now I'm going to go get this little lady some coffee and have a chat. Manny is going to play you some of my old favorites and then we will have our next round of singers." Lorne put the microphone on the stand and nodded to Manny before helping Kaylee off the stage and into a chair. He was going to have to tell Randall to go a little easy on the Vodka homebrew in the drinks.

Pouring a fresh cup of coffee that he kept on hand just for occasions like this. He handed her the cup and was glad when she drank it down. Poor little thing, was going to be hung over in the morning. She looked at him, not quite sure what to say, or what question to ask, and man was the little lady's head full of questions.

"Don't talk, I'll tell you what you want to know. Your mind is a pretty open book, you want what all young women do your age, adventure and romance. The adventure, well that you sure have enough of it to spare, but it's the romance with your good doctor that has your feathers all ruffled. I can only tell you to give it time sweetie, the man has a whole heap of stuff on his plate right now and it's going to get worse before it gets better. That sister of his is going to open a whole new can of worms and let me tell you its not going to be pretty. When the time comes, your love will be bittersweet to some and joyous to others and it will come. Just be patient little Kaylee. Your destiny has just begun sweetness, that crew you belong to is going to change the universe."  
Kaylee could do nothing but stare and soak up everything the green man said to her, each piece of it warmed her heart, but most of all about her and Simon. She couldn't help but smile and her smile was so bright that it warmed Lorne's heart and made him think of those friends of his that had been gone for so long now.

"Well cupcake as they said "The show must go on.", drink some more coffee before you head out." Lorne left her sitting there with her mug of coffee and went back to the stage and into an incredible rendition of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" just so he could show the crowd how it was meant to be done.

We he returned to the alcove behind the stage ten minutes later the girl was gone but her smile still hung in the room. He hoped he would see her again one day just so he could see that smile without a cloud of intoxication.

Kaylee made it back to the ship that night high on alcohol and love and singing the Ballad of Jayne at the top of her lungs. Was still singing it in her head when the rest of the crew came into the cargo hold and found her laying on the floor. It was Jayne that carried her to her bunk, only because she was singing the song and telling him all sorts of tales about the different kinds of creatures she had seen in the bar.

"Girl, I don't know what you drunk, but you need to tell me what it was so I can stay clear. Don't want to touch nothing that makes a person see green skinned, red eyed anything." Jayne dumped her on her bed and left. By the time he'd made it back to the crew with the story Kaylee was fast asleep and dreaming of her and Simon and their life together in the future.


End file.
